Keeping It Clean on Halloween

This year, we debated for quite a while what Cameron would be for Halloween. We knew from our experiences at the Children's Museum in Seattle this summer that Cam would not enjoy being a postal worker - I mean, we all know first hand that postal workers don't enjoy being postal workers!


He seemed to like being a fireman though. And in my humble opinion, he's good looking enough to be a fireman (inside joke for Mike's mom).

However, it just didn't seem right to dress him up in a random costume. We wanted to find something that was meaningful to him. A couple of weeks ago, Mike had this great epiphany: Cameron loves picking up trash and throwing it away, so he should be a garbage man for Halloween! I went on a hunt to find a mini-sized trash can that looks like the trash can that gets picked up every week, and let me tell you, this was harder than I thought it would be. While shopping for a basketball hoop at a sporting goods store, I found a small green cooler with wheels and a handle. When I showed it to Mike, he said, "Oh, a cooler." And when Cameron saw it, he immediately said, "Trash." So it was a winner!

I was also able to complete the garbage man look by finding a safety vest in the hunting section at the sporting goods store. (Why young children are hunting is an entirely separate discussion and blog post.) I printed off the Waste Management logo and pinned it all over the vest and trash can, and voila - we had ourselves our very own garbage man!

Cameron LOVED pulling around his own-sized trash can...until he found the real thing.

He seemed to enjoy walking around the neighborhood and ringing people's doorbells. When people told him he could pick out candy out of the bucket, he stared and studied all of his options. After careful examination, he would finally pick out a piece, and then if the candy-giver said he could have another one, the process repeated...and he would pick out the same exact kind of candy! He loved to put the candy in his trash can, and then he'd go back to the candy-giver and ask for more. At least he's not afraid to ask!

The little guy trick or treated around the neighborhood for about an hour and a half. Last year, we made it maybe half an hour and just went down our street. Unfortunately for him, he didn't partake in any of the candy, but fortunately for Mike and me, he got some good treats from the neighbors! And true to his profession for the night, he did pick up trash that he saw along the way and threw it in his trash can! Overall, it was a fun night. Special thanks to my dad, who tagged along and took pictures for us.